EV general discussion

[Cosmic182]

Do any of you guys get gap insurance? When I just got my new EV, they “strongly recommended” getting gap insurance (obviously they want me to get it to go through them etc) but then again I’ve heard gap insurance is a waste? Any insight would be great and if so, where from.

Thanks guys.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I’d get gap insurance on any new car purchase given you’ll almost certainly be in negative equity for at least a year unless you put down a massive deposit.

Gap insurance is about bridging the gap between what an insurance company would pay out if the car is written off (E.g. market value) and either your outstanding finance, the invoice cost or new car cost. Those are your 3 options, and they get progressively more expensive although gap insurance is fairly inexpensive if you shop around.

Just remember, the car could be involved in a collision that could write the car off within 50 yards of the dealer but as soon as you sign the paperwork, it’s probably lost 20% of its value.

 

[bigmike20vt]

it is such a con really. car insurance should be enough to replace your written off car with an equivalent aged car condition and spec of the same model (less the excess if it is you at fault). if this isn't the case then imo there is a bit of a fiddle going on somewhere.

people who take the .... on claims with whiplash or loss of earnings when there is none annoy me.... but at the same time if it is the only way to not end up out of pocket then I can see why they are tempted to do it

that said ...... we DID get a fair price for our car when it was written off last month. even now we are still getting texts from legal companies makeing sure we are certain we don't want to claim for additional expenses. so the whole thing seems a bit of a con from both sides imo

 

[Journey]

so the whole thing seems a bit of a con from both sides imo

Modern day insurance is a complete con, it is a way for companies to make huge sums of money for doing nothing. Too many legal get out clauses, and coveralls that make it an industry as corrupt as politics.

 

[jpaul]

tesla cuts : hadn't realised biden updated the usa ev qualification 1dec (just as we loosened rules of origin), so their tesla credits & rrp prices will adjust

The Treasury Department guidance, released in conjunction with the White House Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation and Energy Department, specifically defines the term "foreign entity of concern." Under the IRA, EVs are prohibited from receiving the $7,500 federal credit if they are assembled with any battery components or critical minerals sourced from such a foreign entity of concern (FEOC) beginning in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

The guidance explains that the federal government interprets an FEOC as an entity "incorporated in, headquartered in and operating within" one of the covered nations: China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Treasury's guidance also states that a covered nation's government is considered an owner of an entity if 25% or more of the entity’s board seats, voting rights, or equity interest are controlled by the government.

Federal EV tax credit slashed in half for some Tesla Model 3s in 2024

Tesla's Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive and Model 3 Long Range will no longer qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit starting in January

www.fox5atlanta.com

could trigger further uk ev cuts if companies have excess chinese capacity to shift.

 

[pc-guy]

The I4 and GLC are significantly cheaper on our Comp car scheme.

Maybe there are discounts on offer from manufacturer thus cheaper rate.

I do find some of the lease monthly cost strange. Like the MG4 is a tad over £300/m but the model Y is like £450/m but model y is 2x the ticket price.

They must assume MG4 will have 0 resell value.

Similarly for the new model EVs they must just guess extremely low residues thus pushing up the monthly cost

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

I’d get gap insurance on any new car purchase given you’ll almost certainly be in negative equity for at least a year unless you put down a massive deposit.

Gap insurance is about bridging the gap between what an insurance company would pay out if the car is written off (E.g. market value) and either your outstanding finance, the invoice cost or new car cost. Those are your 3 options, and they get progressively more expensive although gap insurance is fairly inexpensive if you shop around.

Just remember, the car could be involved in a collision that could write the car off within 50 yards of the dealer but as soon as you sign the paperwork, it’s probably lost 20% of its value.

Also worth checking policy, most policies are new for old upto one year old, Although I had one that was 2 years.
IIRC it was NFU mutual, but I may be wrong.

IMO gap insurance is for after year one since normally as long as your with a decent insurer your new for old anyway in year 1.

 

[AlSki]

I really like the look of the CUPRA borne but worry about that long trip I mentioned above and especially in the cold that will just not work for me I think. Also from the quick reviews I checked the console to control everything is laggy and crap.

My wife loves her Born Level 2, and tells me her range shows 260 min but that's all short journeys. Watching her from the passenger seat, she doesn't use the touch screen while driving, but the capacitive touch buttons below for the common functions. On the rare occasion I've jumped into to it to be taxi, because her and friends don't fit in the mini, I've had no time to get used to it and hated trying to find everything in the menus.

On the test drive I absolutely loved the car for how it drove and looks. The heads up display is really good too. If you think its a real candidate, I would suggest taking a test drive where you get everything set up first, really play around with the screen before setting off, then get a feel for it when you change the things you would do in your normal driving.

 

[Haggisman]

Also worth checking policy, most policies are new for old upto one year old, Although I had one that was 2 years.
IIRC it was NFU mutual, but I may be wrong.

IMO gap insurance is for after year one since normally as long as your with a decent insurer your new for old anyway in year 1.

This.

Obviously it's crystal ball time, but basically it's only really worth it if you think the car will be worth less than you owe after 12 months.

 

[sparkymark75]

So much hatred brewing up on social media for EV batteries and how they are made and how much waste is created.

I guess it’s the flat earthers and anti-vaxers latest target. Albeit with some truth this time.

Such as? Are people forgetting that we won't need to mine for the resources for batteries forever as we'll reach a point where we have a circular pool of resources. What is required can come from recycled resources. Fossil fuels however, once burnt are gone forever so will need to continually be mined for.

 

[lordrobs]

Such as? Are people forgetting that we won't need to mine for the resources for batteries forever as we'll reach a point where we have a circular pool of resources. What is required can come from recycled resources. Fossil fuels however, once burnt are gone forever so will need to continually be mined for.

Mass adoption of EVs + whatever the requirement for home/grid storage is going to end up being means that the mining will continue for as long as it takes to move on to the next battery technology, then the loop can start again...

 

[Cosmic182]

I’d get gap insurance on any new car purchase given you’ll almost certainly be in negative equity for at least a year unless you put down a massive deposit.

Gap insurance is about bridging the gap between what an insurance company would pay out if the car is written off (E.g. market value) and either your outstanding finance, the invoice cost or new car cost. Those are your 3 options, and they get progressively more expensive although gap insurance is fairly inexpensive if you shop around.

Just remember, the car could be involved in a collision that could write the car off within 50 yards of the dealer but as soon as you sign the paperwork, it’s probably lost 20% of its value.

Thanks guys. Can I ask, who do any of you chaps use for gap insurance? Seems to be a few about….

Tia

 

[FerretBoy]

Thanks guys. Can I ask, who do any of you chaps use for gap insurance? Seems to be a few about….

Tia

I didn't for the Tesla, but I did for the Golf before it. Churchill came out competitive and their more premium plan gave 2 years return to new, so gap wasn't needed.

To be fair I only got it for the Golf R as I was concerned about theft.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Thanks guys. Can I ask, who do any of you chaps use for gap insurance? Seems to be a few about….

Tia

I take the same approach as any other insurance product, whoever offers the best price for the cover I wanted. That’s about as much thought as I’ve put into it.

I think I used ALA for the 4 year new car replacement gap on my Model 3, I think it was under £300 at the time. Other than buying the policy online, I’ve had zero interaction with them so I couldn’t say if they are a good company or not.

I expect it’s a LOT more than that now….

 

[VincentHanna]

Not strictly EV related but does any one have experience coming out of a contract earlier and the costs involved?

Initially leased my Polestar 2 from March 2021 to March 2023. Then extended it for another year (with more miles and a cheaper monthly cost) But my new vehicle lease is a stock vehicle, and available now so I thought I might as well swap ASAP and get an early termination quote - It's only 3 months.

Leaseplan say they won't talk to me, I have to go via the original Broker

The original broker says they have requested the early termination quote twice, and that Leaseplan will email me directly.

Leaseplan said that isn't right, the broker gets it and sends it on to me.

I rang the broker and he said no, they have changed their systems and are taking ages to do anything at the moment.

Am going in circles.

The irony is, the new car is funded by ALD Automotive and they bought Leaseplan back in May.

 

[chanjy]

Only ever leased one car, it was via VWFS and I was able to send it back early and I had to pay some fees but it was less than the actual lease cost remaining (can't remember how much less though)

No idea about Leasplan though haha

 

[Kill_Phil]

@VincentHanna I was with ALD previously and got an early termination; with the residuals at the time it didn't cost me anything to hand it back.

Maybe worthwhile giving ALD a call to explain/see if they can help

 

[VincentHanna]

Tried that, they said the transition is ongoing and that I had to speak to Leaseplan.

 

[drew]

Leasing companies can be a pain in the butt. We have a pickup on contract hire, we've tried to extend for another 12 months, just ignored us, was due to go back in October and they keep taking the DD so assume its sorted.

 

[SDK^]

Not strictly EV related but does any one have experience coming out of a contract earlier and the costs involved?

I ended my BMW 5 Series lease early when my Polestar 2 moved from a Jan ‘21 delivery to November 2020.
As there wasn’t much left on the lease I think it was 1.5 months due in the last month.